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Title: Eastern Front: The Unpublished Photographs 1941-1945 by Will Fowler ISBN: 0-7603-1116-1 Publisher: MBI Publishing Pub. Date: August, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: More Than First Meets the Eye
Comment: Every now and then a book comes along that is unheralded and, if advertised at all, is done so only in esoteric publications. This is just such a book. It is a publishing diamond in the rough.
As the title indicates, this is a collection of photos "previously unpublished, from a former Soviet archive." While I'm no expert, I have been through many books and articles about the Eastern Front, and I don't recall seeing any of these before. Some photos appear to have been staged (not that there's anything wrong with that), but most appear to have been spontaneous. The photos span the entire Front during the whole of the war, almost entirely at the tactical level.
While the depth and breadth of the collection is impressive, the book's greatest strength lies in the captions that accompany each photograph. These are comprehensive, interesting and surprisingly full of detailed nomenclature of Soviet and German aircraft, weapons, vehicles and equipage. Some of the captions appear to be literal translations from Russian, and the resulting odd phraseology lends an unexpected authenticity.
The accompanying text provides a concise, well written, summary-level description of the course of the Russo-German war that puts the photos in each section into context. There are no maps, orders of battle, or other accouterments of military histories, but the text hangs together well and provides an excellent primer on this titanic struggle. Even for the more seasoned reader, insights abound that I have not seen in other such collections, such as the roll of Ultra and the Lucy spy network in Soviet preparations to meet the Wehrmacht's massive offensive towards Kursk in 1943, or the interwoven statistics throughout the book that quantify manpower and weaponry and thereby provide some sense of the opposing forces' capabilities.
This is not the definitive collection of photos, but it fits well with other albums and thus provides a valuable addition to one's WWII library. Whether used as a coffee table book or for more serious perusal, it will provide hours of enjoyable reading. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4
Summary: Dark Days
Comment: Will Fowler publishes previously unseen photos of the bloodiest battleground of World War Two, the Eastern Front.
Laid out in cronological order, we are taken on that horrible journey that would ultimatley end up in Berlin. Pictures from both sides are used, not just of battles but of a way of life that ordinary humans were made to suffer in.
There are many books written about this subject and some are better than this one but for the fact that these pictures have come to life after so many years, makes for good but sad viewing.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fine photo book.
Comment: Eastern Front by Will Fowler.
This is by far the best photo album dealing with the Eastern Front, from the Russian side.
The pictures and text are well laid out. The text in formative, the pictures interesting and varied. Taken in their totality they give a good impression of what it must have been like, seen from this distance.
I should point out that I also have a large number of photo album type books of the war from the German side and the percentage of photos in this book which appear to be propaganda photos is no higher then in similar books on the German forces, or the western allies.
Best collection of photos, from the Russian side, published so far. Now the archives have been open for a few years, with luck, there will be more books of a similar type from the Russian view.
All the best,
Kip.
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